Abigail Stones becomes junior world taekwondo champion in Taipei

Fifteen-year-old Abigail Stones from Liverpool says “it doesn’t feel real” after winning a gold medal in the -42kg category at the World Junior Taekwondo Championships in Taipei on March 25.

“I didn’t think I had won at first but then I looked at my body armour, saw the colour and then I was so made up,” she said in an interview with GB Taekwondo.

Despite dropping a weight category for the event, Abigail enjoyed four convincing wins on her way to the final. But silver medallist Irene Bermejo proved a resilient opponent in the gold medal match and fought back from 3-0 to 6-6 to force a sudden-death period of extra time.

“I had five hard fights but I gave my best and came out where I wanted to," Abigail said. "It was hard coming down in weight after last week but thanks to a few visits to the sauna I made it!"

She added, “I’m so grateful to (GB coach) Gareth Brown and without Peter Hankin, my club coach, I wouldn’t have done what I have."

The victory for Abigail came just weeks after she received her second SportsAid Award from the charity.

“My SportsAid Award will help me towards the next step in my goal to becoming a full time member of Team GB,” Abigail said.

Read more about her career in her SportsAid athlete profile (resource links).